8 Steps To Create The Life You Desire

To Act or Not To Act…what will it be?

Back in the 90s, I decided to pursue a career in acting after watching a dismal performance on one of my favourite local TV soaps, Isidingo. The desire to be an actor was so intense that I immediately sprung into action to make that dream happen. I couldn’t just standby and watch the two actors ‘murder’ the script day after day:) And so my short stint in acting began!

My personal growth path involved several weeks of acting classes and signing up with an agent, before I landed the dream audition and secured a fab role on, you better believe it, Isidingo! A few jobs followed on other productions until I got sick of playing the "blonde bimbo" stereotype.

In the role of Margaret on Isidingo

Beauty competition scene

In film productions the most repeated words on set are STANDBY and ACTION!

Actors spend much of their working hours on STANDBY. Sure, there is the job satisfaction of creating beautiful works of art and entertainment. But it’s many, many hours of STANDBY and some ACTION, before you can produce a work of art.

The ACTION parts feel like fleeting moments, maybe because acting really is so much fun, but it makes STANDBY periods seam like eternity. For me, the acting experience served to clarify that my life is not to be lived on STANDBY mode, waiting for someone else to call the shots. I prefer to be the director of my own movie, in business and life, and to be in control of the course of my own destiny.

At times, it really feels like life is just one big ACT. I believe we are here on earth to give the performance of our lives. We perform by taking ACTION every day. Spending life on STANDBY mode is no way to live.

What does it mean to spend life on STANDBY?

To accept status quo when it doesn’t serve your best interests

To plod through life in a dead-end job, without any drive or motivation to make a significant difference in this world

To not share your divine gifts, talents and abilities with the world in the best way you know how

To become a workaholic, an alcoholic, a compulsive gambler or to find some other mind-altering substance or people who can numb your pain and prevent you from thinking about your life

To give up on reading, learning, and growing in the Emotional (EQ), Spiritual (SQ) and Mental (IQ) realm

To procrastinate by focusing on small tasks, which keep you in the state of busy-ness all day, and in the end make you feel like you've made no meaningful contribution

To allow other people to set your daily agenda and distract you from what you want to be doing

To wait for your ideal partner to walk through the door, when you know the only way to find the right partner is to put yourself out there

To hate yourself for something that happened in your past and live with resentment in your heart

To let others determine your path in life through accepting abusive relationships at home and at work

To make excuses why you can't get to gym (or some more inspiring place) for a workout at least three times a week

To complain about how unhappy you are with your relationship, your job, the circumstances, but do nothing to change them

To live in a home with a leaking faucet and never bother to fix it

To be passive

What steps can you take today to move from STANDBY into ACTION and create the life you desire?

Step 1: Create a Vision Board for your life exactly how you imagine it to be 10 years from now. Do it in your journal, or a large paper board, on canvas or do it online using Pinterest or mind-mapping software like MindMeister.

Step 2: Decide what you want to achieve in each facet of your life to make you feel like, at the end of your days here on earth, you have given your best, and can leave this world a content woman. Focus on what you want to achieve in the facet of love, money, career/business, family & friends, home, health, personal growth and spirituality.

Step 3: Turn your intentions into measurable power goals. It's a power goal if it excites you and answers the questions of who, what, where, by when, and why? For example, maybe you want to kick-start your entrepreneurial dream of running your own beauty salon. Describe, with whom you will run it, what it will offer, where it will be located, by when will you open shop, and most importantly, why you want to do it? Perhaps it’s freedom and independence that you seek.

Step 4: Affirm your goals daily. For example, "I am living my most inspired and cherished dream, owning a (specify desired business) or being a (desired career) that is making me (specify exact amount per month) by (specify exact date) and fills me with joy and happiness every day." Repeat this affirmation daily, meditate on it first thing in the morning and before bedtime, and be aware of the synchronicity that manifests in your life. For example, if you want to open a beauty salon, you might come across a movie that gives you an idea for the salon's decor, might be a conversation you overhear in a store about a new range of body care products, might be someone you meet who wants a job as a beautician, might be a friend of a friend who is a real estate agent with property to let in the perfect location for your business, and so on. What you affirm and focus on is what you attract into your life. Affirmations help us believe in ourselves and our capabilities. Focus on owning and running your business every day and you will make it happen.

Step 5: Strategise your action plan. If you struggle with this, there are thousands of coaches - business coaches, health coaches, life coaches, leadership coaches, that can help you clarify your vision, and develop an action plan to speed up the achievement of your goals. Everyone needs a coach, but they just don't know it. Even coaches have coaches. Strategise with a coach to create the perfect master plan for your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual actions, to bring that dream into reality. When you wake up in the morning, you should know exactly what the three actions are that you need to take to bring you closer to your desired goal.

Step 6: Learn. Up-skill. Grow. Learn and master your craft, so you can do it better than anyone else. Up-skill to speed up the achievement of your desired results. Grow yourself and your people by investing in books, workshops and online resources to master your craft. Today, you can find a free course on just about anything. Check out www.Coursera.org for 1,000s of free courses that you can study online.

Step 7: Build a support network. Surround yourself with people who support your vision, uplift and motivate you to go for it - family members, special friends, mentors and coaches. Acknowledge your hired house help, as they free you to focus on manifesting your goals vs spending it on house chores. They too are a part of your support network.

Step 8: Live with gratitude. Be grateful for the blessings that come into your life. The more you recognise and acknowledge them, the more of them will flow towards you.

Have faith that what you envision for yourself will come true, if you live with gratitude in your heart and apply the above steps daily in your life.